POSTED: Monday, November 2nd, 2009 at 1:00 am

BY: dmc-admin

The first round of vaccines designed to combat the H1N1 virus arrived in Wisconsin last week.

The illness is not widespread yet – only a handful of attorneys and court staff in Milwaukee have gotten sick so far – but the county court system has formed a Pandemic Planning Committee as a precautionary measure.

“Right now it’s business as usual, but we need to be prepared for any changes that might be necessary to keep from exposing people to the flu,” said committee member Judge Richard J. Sankovitz.

Among the possibilities, if the virus spreads, are adjournments in some divisions.

“We’ll look into how many courts can we afford to keep open if our own people are sick,” Sankovitz said. “If it gets to the point where we can only keep a few branches open, we might consider a mass adjournment.”

But while adjournments in the civil division might be feasible, there is less flexibility in criminal and children’s court, he noted, because those cases are often time-sensitive. He said most court calendars are scheduled six to eight weeks out.

Since September 1, the Wisconsin Department of Health Services has reported that 53 people have been hospitalized for H1N1, and last spring the state had more than 1,000 confirmed cases.

The state court’s office has sent out advisory bulletins to judicial and non-judicial staff on how to reduce the risk of catching the virus.

It recommends that court employees stay home if they are sick, and states that other employees may be asked to cancel scheduled vacations and work overtime to compensate for staff shortages.

In addition, employees will likely be asked to do work outside of their normal job duties. Employees must work as assigned unless granted leave.

Pam Radloff, Deputy Director of State Courts said county courts, especially in the northern part of the state, are coordinating efforts in case of a major outbreak.

“Districts are sharing [judicial] resources across county lines to make sure there are enough to go around,” she said.

In Milwaukee, Sankovitz said the courts are already recommending that civil attorneys handle scheduling conferences over the phone and that judges do the same for bench decisions, to help reduce the number of people congregating at the courthouse.

But teleconferencing will be harder to implement for criminal proceedings, given that defendants are often required to appear in court.

“Making a record with someone on the phone is a real challenge,” said Sankovitz, who is the presiding judge in the Felony Division.

Advice for clients

Gonzalez Saggio & Harlan attorney Gregory M. Wesley is co-chair of his firm’s Employment Law Group. He has been advising clients since the initial outbreak last spring about practical steps to decrease the spread of swine flu.

Wesley said the firm issued a “60 second memo” to remind clients about common sense precautions like sanitizers and hand washing, but he has also helped direct some clients to vaccination sites.

“The best advice we can give is for employers to circulate information about how to reduce the spread of the virus and tell employees where to get vaccines,” he said.

Quarles & Brady employment attorney Pamela M. Ploor said the volume of calls she has received from clients has grown considerably.

In addition to advising clients to develop a strategy for keeping employees healthy in the workplace, Ploor said that employers also need to implement additional sick leave policies.

“It’s important to have a plan in place in case a significant number of people miss work,” she said.

In these lean economic times, Ploor noted that companies are already trying to do more with less, and the last thing they can afford is a decrease in attendance.

She recommends that clients take preventative measures like offering free clinics to employees to minimize the risk of mass illness.

If employees do get sick, she suggested two options for employers if the H1N1 virus spreads: allowing employees to draw on future paid leave or offering additional paid sick leave with a cap. But she said it is up to the individual company to decide on a policy which will allow it to remain productive.

“My advice is if someone is sick, the employer has to figure out how to balance issues of paying people, not paying people or letting them borrow from future leave,” she said.

While public health officials recommend that sick employees stay home, if they aren’t getting paid, there is a temptation to come to work anyway, said Ploor.

But “if someone comes in and gets more people sick, the company could be worse off than if the person stayed home,” she noted.

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